We believe: The public sector can and should serve the collective good.
Our Goals
• Improve government’s capacity to provide services and address challenges effectively.
• Support voter engagement.
SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide helps voters understand the issues they will face in the voting booth. We focus on outcomes, not ideology, providing objective analysis on which measures will deliver real solutions.
The Good Government Awards honor outstanding managers working for the City and County of San Francisco, recognizing them for their leadership, vision and ability to make a difference in city government and in the community.
San José has the highest median household income of any major city in the country, but years of budget cuts and staffing reductions have left the city in a precarious position. SPUR and Working Partnerships USA explore how San Jose can bolster its resources and deliver high-quality public services.
The Impact Awards Luncheon, honors the outstanding contributions by employees of city and county governments, public agencies and nonprofit organizations in Santa Clara County. The awards celebrate significant accomplishments in the areas of housing, transportation, placemaking and urban design, community advocacy, and sustainability and resilience.
Gabriel Metcalf interviews City Controller Ed Harrington. Harrington, who served from 1990-2008, describes his role as not just financially managing city departments, but assisting them with staff and resources to be more effective.
In the city’s first round of district elections since 1979, San Francisco voters elected what one victor boasted was a “progressive super-majority” to the Board of Supervisors and decisively thumped Mayor Willie Brown’s anointed candidates in one district after another, wrecking his vaunted machine. As establishment leaders lament their defeat and business elites despair, there is joy among progressives in our left coast city this…
This article describes the way San Francisco pays for infrastructure, how we underfund maintenance and makes several proposals, including a set-aside for deferred maintenance.
Beryl Magilavy calls for greater transparency and more in-depth scrutiny of certain civil service positions. By demanding more accountability from these positions Beryl argues that the city will save money.